A raven with gears
by Maven Alazais
Summary: After having dealt with Trigon, Cyborg finds himself attracted to Raven but is afraid to pursue anything. Raven is struggling to keep her emotions in control, but is willing to give these new feelings a chance, only if someone is there to help her undestand and control them. CyRae with hints of RobStar.
1. Chapter 1

***A/N: Hello everyone! This is my very first Teen Titans fanfiction. After rewatching all the episodes, I got some CyRae feels and we all know that the best way to utilize them is to write a fic, right? Anyway, I want you to know that this is a romance story, so please do not focus on the battle/action mistakes I may make or any errors on their backstories. Please review and tell me how you found this chapter, I seriously want to hear all of your opinions.**

**Disclaimer: I wouldn't be writing a fic if I owned the characters, right? So, yes, I do not own them. Bummer.**

**Thanks for reading! **

**Maven Alazais. ***

**CHAPTER ONE.**

Cyborg was, as usual, the first one to wake up. After having recharged for seven hours while his human half was completely shut down, he exited his room-lab and headed for the kitchen where he got his frying pan out and started cooking their pancakes. He was barely paying attention to what he was doing anymore, after having done it for so many times during these years.

As he was turning the pancakes he was currently frying over, the kitchen-main room door opened and he knew only one person could be; the girl that he had been meeting early in the morning in their kitchen for the past few months.

"Mornin', Raven." He greeted, not taking his eyes from his pan.

"Hi." Was all she said, in her regular monotone voice. She floated from the door to the cupboard with the herbs and scanned its contents.

"Should I ask you if you want some pancakes or will I get the same negative answer again?" Cyborg asked, half-smiling.

"You will." She replied, taking out her usual kind of teabag, and placing it inside the cup she had just magically transported from next to the sink.

"Thought so. Slept well?" He asked, putting the fresh pancakes on a dish.

Raven shrugged, giving him a good look from underneath her hood. She sat on her chair and mixed her hot tea with a spoon. Cyborg sat across her with a mountain of pancakes in front of him.

Normally, he would start munching on his pancakes right away, but he took a moment to observe his fellow titan. He had always found her interesting. She was very clever, powerful and even though she wasn't the friendliest person ever, he knew she was very loyal. After what had happened with Trigon, Cyborg had gained a whole new perspective on Raven's situation. He understood what she had been through, trying to deny her fate and her father and they had all learnt to forgive her easily whenever she was in her fowl moods. Having to meditate every day and night to control your power definitely wasn't easy and he really understood that. Whenever they were alone, they would usually have very serious conversations, about a plethora of subjects and sometimes, Cyborg felt like he could tell her anything.

Some weeks ago he had also found himself in a very awkward position considering Raven. Although Starfire was usually the one known for her looks and the one that got checked out by guys most often, he never really could see her in that way. As he also thought he did with Raven, when he realized that he… didn't.

He had gotten on the roof to check if some new solar panels he had bought were working and had found Raven meditating facing the sea. She was levitating about a meter above the rooftop and he seemed to have been staring at her for several long minutes. He observed her long and pale neck, her nice collarbones, showing underneath her dark leotard, her slender legs and delicate hands, as well as her unique face. She had a very nice jaw-line, a cute nose and a slightly down-turned mouth that he loved seeing it smile ever-so-lightly. Although her eyes were closed, of course, he could always recall them in his mind. Big, amethyst-colored, shining eyes. Amazing, if you asked him. And just so simply, he found himself being very flushed and he felt his human cheek burn up. He and his panels went back down, where he felt like he needed a cold shower to calm himself.

Ever since that afternoon, he did look at her unlike he had before. Yes, she was his friend and fellow titan, but in his mind, he couldn't resist but feel like she was something more to him. He didn't show anything, of course. Raven was very distant and she hardly ever seemed to bother with things like these. He also knew that since she was a half-demon half-human hybrid, she would end up having many powers, that would gradually make their appearance to her as she began to master them, and empathy was one of them. He couldn't risk having her understand this subtle new feeling of his, so he had to be very careful.

"Cyborg?" Raven said.

"Yes?" He said, swallowing a big syrup-covered chunk of pancakes.

"Will you help me train today?"

"What? Me?"

"I want to check if my shadow field can now withstand an attack equally powerful with your plasma beam."

"Oh. Sure, yeah. I'll help you."

Raven nodded and drank the remainder of her tea. Cyborg found himself caught between conflicting emotions. One side of him was happy because she had asked him to help her, which meant spending time together, but the other side of him was afraid and embarrassed in a whole new way he had never experienced before. He decided that this was a Titan job, the training, and he should think of it as nothing more. It would be of no use thinking otherwise.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"You sure?" Cyborg asked, preparing his canon.

"Yes." She replied coldly, stretching her hands in front of her and projecting a black layer of her magic, which shielded her front.

"Here it goes then!" He announced, letting a regular beam shoot from his canon. It hit her magic but she seemed to withstand perfectly well. He put a bit more into it, and the new ray made Raven take several steps back. Her magic was still there, though.

"Give me more." He heard her say.

"Raven, are you certain?" Robin's voice sounded from the speakers of the monitoring room.

"Yes!" She said, frowning, resisting his ray.

"Cyborg, give her your full blast." Robin said, shutting his microphone.

"Okay, then. You asked for it!"

Cyborg supported his left arm with his right and fired his strongest ray, wishing she knew what she was doing.

A very bright and thick blue plasma ray hit her magic layer. It lasted for two seconds and then was ripped apart like it was a sheet of paper. The ray hit Raven directly and she was blasted several meters away, in a typhoon of blinding blue light. Cyborg finished attacking and looked around wide-eyed. There was no sign of Raven anywhere. He had guessed she had crashed on the wall.

"Raven?" He called and ran to the wall. "Don't tell me I incinerated you! Please!"

"You didn't." He heard her voice say, as her black soul-self simply glided through the training room's wall and transported her inside again. She turned back into her usual self.

"Phew!" He said. "Are you alright?"

"Yes. You didn't expect me to let myself crash on the wall, right?"

"I don't know, I mean, I hit you and well-"

"You hit me. That didn't mean I didn't know how I would deal with that scenario."

"Eh, of course, sure, I didn't say that, I just, um, you know, I know you're strong and stuff but, well, uh, I…"

Raven arched an eyebrow, giving him a very weird look. Cyborg only prayed he hadn't blushed. He had worried for her alright, maybe a little too much that he should and he didn't want it to be that obvious.

"Raven, Cyborg," Robin called once again, "get out. It's time for Beast Boy's turn."

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Raven Roth was never the loving type. Never. People thought her extremely antisocial, and, well, truth be told, she didn't really like people. Most of the time she just tolerated their presence. She had learnt that she could be dangerous to them if she let herself go and that is why one of the first things she had been taught was to control and contain her emotions.

When she joined the titans, she was afraid that the nice, heartwarming feeling of friendship would be dangerous, but she learnt to control it. No; better, she learnt to unify it with herself. It had made her stronger. She didn't have to suppress it anymore, but in order to do that, she needed time. Although she realized she wasn't that very expressive, that's how she was, and, luckily, her friends seemed to understand that. She felt blessed to have been accepted by such a group. After having defeated her father, she felt a bit freer but still unable to open herself to every kind of emotion out there. She couldn't jeopardize all the progress she had made just by opening up and becoming fluffy all of the sudden. God help them if that moment came.

That day was looking like every other day in the Tower. She would have her tea, discuss a bit with Cyborg, try to teach Starfire some of Earth's customs, train, annoy Beast Boy and meditate a lot in order to have a firm grip on her powers. Only that it wasn't. Something had happened back when she was testing her shield thing. When she had phased through the wall and came back to Cyborg calling for her, she felt something weird. Cyborg had been very worrying, she knew and understood that, but what she couldn't understand was why she _liked _the fact that he was worrying about her.

Well, accepting is the first step to understanding, she told herself. She had acknowledged the presence of this…thing. It was new and it was…nice. She couldn't let it 'roam around' freely, though. She had to place it carefully in its own spot in her mind. And in order to do so, she needed to meditate. After she was done with it, it would be her time to worry a bit about the wellbeing of her friends and start taking measures for it. She had healing powers, but they could only be applied to her biological friends. She needed to learn how to mend her mechanical comrade as well. Yes, she would do that.

She sat on her bed, folding her legs and took a deep breath. She placed her hands on her knees, with her palms turned towards the ceiling.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos."

***That was it, then! The first chapter… I don't know how I'll go on with it, I'll probably have some of their discussions, some action going on and stuff. Please please please please please tell me how you found it with a small review, I'd be honored to receive your feedback! I'll try to update soon!***


	2. Chapter 2

***A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed and read the previous chapter! *virtual breathtaking hug* I think this is quite a quick update, right? I'm trying to move the story slowly, you are welcome to comment on it however you like, I love hearing your opinions. I also apologize for any typos I didn't notice. Thanks again! Maven Alazais ***

**CHAPTER TWO**

Raven finished another meditation session successfully, as no alarm had sounded in their tower. It had been a rather uneventful week, that one. She felt relaxed and calm, after having 'tidied' up her mind and 'folded' every new and old emotion carefully and nicely. She stopped levitating, removed her hood and silently exited her room. She had decided to go find Cyborg.

She disliked using the elevator, so she simply used her soul-self to glide through the doors and transport herself in front of his lab. Loud metal noises came from inside, so she guessed he was working on something. She knocked on the door and waited. The sounds stopped and within a second, Cyborg had opened the door and welcomed her inside.

"Whatcha doin' here, Raven?" He asked, a bit surprised. He was used to having visits in his lab, mostly by Robin, but never by Raven.

"I thought you could maybe teach me some mechanic things." She said directly, skipping over any idle chit-chat that could have followed after his question.

"Uh, what? Teach you mechanics? Why?"

"I am a healer."

"Yeah, I know that."

"But since you're almost all robotic, my healing powers don't apply to you. I want you to show me how to fix you should anything happen." She replied, no emotion what-so-ever coloring her voice.

"Uh, thanks for your concern, Raven, and all that, but I can fix myself alright."

"What if your mind is shut down or you don't have your arms around? Remember that time with Beast Boy-"

"Of course I remember, there are still some gears inside me misplaced!" He laughed loudly but Raven just stared at him.

"So show me."

"You're really fixed on this, aren't cha?"

Raven shrugged. Cyborg was internally congratulating himself for not revealing anything more, because he was burning up inside. First she shows up at his door, then she asks him to show her how to fix him. What more could he ask for? And yet, he had to control himself. If he was to misinterpret this movement of hers, he would end feeling and expecting more that he would obviously not receive and he would end up disappointed. Raven wasn't that type of person, she wouldn't bother with romantic feelings. She would be unstable, he understood that. And so he tried with all his willpower to silence his emotions. It was for the best, right?

"So, what do you know on the subject?" He asked, rubbing his chin with a sophisticated look on his face.

"The basics."

"Like?"

"This is a cable,"-she magically levitated a long power cord-"that is a screw"-she levitated some screws of different sizes that were scattered around the floor-"that over there on the wall is a socket and the small green or grey things with the yellow lines are called chips."

Cyborg sighed. "Oh, boy..."

"I'm a quick learner." Raven stated, arching an eyebrow.

"This will definitely take time."

"Unless you got anything more important to do, I can give you an hour each afternoon."

"Are you sure you want to study machinery? Don't you have, like, any books to study for your magic or something?"

"Look, if you don't want to teach me, it's fine." She said, floating a bit over ground level and heading for the door.

"No, wait!" He called after her and she stopped. "I didn't say that! It's just...Nobody's ever bothered with my 'anatomy' so..."

"It's high time someone did." She said, turning back around. Cyborg could swear that her eyes could pierce through him and see every scared, little thought that was running through his head. He swallowed and smiled goofily.

"Robin knows a lot on machinery." He blurted out, as it was the first thing that popped into his head.

She cocked an eyebrow again. "So I'm of no use here?"

"Come on now, Rae! Of course I can teach ya a couple of things!"

She floated back next to him. "Begin."

"I think we need to advance your mechanical vocab a bit. I'm afraid I'm a little more complicated than screws and cords."

"Obviously."

He looked furiously around and gathered some pieces of equipment, placing them on their counter. "So, this is a gear." He sketched it on a paper. "This is its working length." He pointed to the gear's little 'teeth' and wrote 'working length' with a small arrow on his drawing, indicating the tooth's length. "This is the addendum and this is the dedendum. Here's its axis."

Raven nodded, paying close attention to whatever he said.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"I hope fortune helps you succeed in this session too, friend Raven." Starfire said, smiling widely at her comrade.

"Good luck to you too." Raven replied, nodding. She put her hood on and rubbed her hands. It's been a long time since she had a practice round with Starfire. Truth be told, she liked exercising with her; she was very strong and Raven, although she hadn't admitted it to anyone, had learnt a thing or two from her battle conduct during all these years.

"Positions!" Robin called from the speakers. "Releasing drones in three...two...one!" A press of a button later, the room was filled with small, flying, laser-shooting, square machines. Robin said he had upped the difficulty a bit, but there must have been at least fifty more than what they usually had.

Starfire flew up, shooting green orbs at the drones coming at her and flying gracefully between the laser beams.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" Raven called, her hands turning black and two drones turning black as well. She used them as her own mechanical slaves and had them shoot beams at other drones. When she was done with those surrounding her, she made them hit each other and they exploded with a loud 'boom'. The space around her was filled with drones again. She used some of her black magic to shield herself from the incoming beans and took a deep breath. She let her mind close up a bit, as she turned into a vast, pitch black crow, that shot towards the drones and destroyed them. She turned back into herself and flew upwards. Starfire was using her shining green eyes to deal with her drones but as she-obviously- didn't have eyes in the back of her head, a thick laser beam hit her in the back. She yelped and fell down with a thud.

Raven could see from the corner of her eye, Robin running to the monitoring room's glass and mouthing 'Starfire!'. Raven rolled her eyes. Did he really think the drones they had created would seriously harm Starfire? But again...He would have a pretty good reason to be worried. He rarely acted like that during training. But what if he had upped the difficulty a little too much? Raven had no way of finding out and she had to help Starfire. It was group practice, after all. They were a team!

She quickly assessed the situation. She was on the other side of the room. So, yes, she was far. Exactly eleven drones were closing up on Starfire and it would take Raven three and a half seconds precisely to reach her flying. She would be too late.

She didn't know how she did it. All she knew was that she felt an outburst of power in her and she felt scared for a fraction of the second, as she sensed her body being 'lifted' upwards and when she reopened her eyes, she was panting, but she was right next to Starfire and surrounded by incoming laser beams.

She lifted her hands, crafting a small black bubble over them, which absorbed the initial laser hits. Starfire slowly pushed herself up and looked at her in surprise.

"Friend! How did you arrive here?"

Raven frowned. "Doesn't matter! Shoot these drones!"

Starfire nodded and cleared her face of some red hairs. "On my count of three." Raven said, struggling to keep her bubble up. "One, two, three!" The bubble disappeared.

Starfire growled as a bright green outburst of her energy circled them, pushing the drones several meters back, crashing them in the process. And just like that, they had dealt with all of them.

Raven should have felt relaxed. Happy. Proud. They got through a very challenging exercise in less that a couple of minutes. Yet she felt as if she was suffocating and she knew she was unstable. Something had been unleashed inside of her and she needed to tame it.

Robin, Cyborg and Beast Boy stormed inside the room.

"Star? Are you okay?" Robin asked, running to the alien princess.

"Raven!" Beast Boy said, with his boyish voice. "You...teleported?"

Raven nodded, her face portraying her distress.

"Are you okay?" The shape-shifter asked.

"Thank you, Raven!" Starfire said, running to her.

Raven couldn't speak. She could only see how several things inside the room were gradually being absorbed in her magic flow that she couldn't control now. It was just like the other time when one of her abilities had advanced; she needed to meditate immediately. She took some steps back, dizzily turned into her soul-self and glided through the floors to get to her room, wishing to put everything under her control before it gets out of hand. She hastily sat on her bed.

"Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos."

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Meditating was more difficult this time and took her more hours than she thought it would. It wasn't about getting her emotions in control. When it came to her powers, it needed much more willpower to tame them, especially now, when she was practically entering an unknown territory with this new skill.

Whenever she took her already acquired abilities to a new level, all she had to do was to focus on them and learn their limits. But now she had no knowledge on the matter. Teleportation; it was a very interesting gift that could prove to be extremely useful if only she knew how to use it. Her mind was a bit of a mess after that. A whole new domain had been 'opened' and it took her quite a lot of time to shut it down and moderate it. She needed practice but in a safe environment.

Closing up her meditating session, she sat back on her bed and breathed heavily. She was still in disarray but back in control of her powers. Yes, she was frightened with this new gift, but a part of her couldn't help but be excited. Who knew what she could do with it!

The sound of heavy feet walking outside got her out of her thoughts. She heard them come to a halt in front of her door and waited for the knock that usually followed, but heard no such thing. And so she waited, frowning. The person was standing outside but didn't knock. Raven grew agitated and a small, mischievous smile appeared on her lips. Time to test her new gift.

She stood up and took a deep breath. She knew the tower like the back of her palm. The image of the hallway outside of her room emerged vividly in her head. She closed her eyes and her powers obeyed to her will; she felt that weird 'lifting' sensation, and when she opened her eyelids again, she was standing outside of her room, right behind the person.

"People usually knock, and not stare at the doors." She said and the man jumped a bit, turning around.

"H-hey there, Raven!" Cyborg said, smiling awkwardly. "I thought you were inside?"

"I was."

"So you...teleported?!"

"Yes."

"I thought you would be more cautious with this thing."

"I am. I only teleported for a few meters and within a place I know very well. I can do that much after meditating for so long. What are _you _doing here, though?"

"I am here because, exactly, you were meditatin' for so long. I, um, came to see if everythin' was alright."

"It is now. Why didn't you knock?"

"I don't know. Maybe I would be disturbin' somethin'."

"That's why you knock." She arched an eyebrow. "To see if you're disturbing anything. Otherwise you would storm inside freely."

"Yeah, we don't usually storm into your room freely." He grinned widely. "It's, like, the hidden black hole of the tower! Ya never know what you'll find in there! Last time we did, we almost got sucked into another dimension!"

Raven half-smiled at his parallel. "Indeed."

Cyborg felt as if he had received the greatest gift. She was smiling. Or half-smiling. It didn't matter, it was a facial expression anyway! "So, you're okay now?"

"Yes. Thanks for the interest..."

"Don't mention it. Now, I'll...I'll just go kick Beasty's ass in video games!"

"You go do that." Raven said and Cyborg left, hoping he hadn't exposed himself too much. But what could he have done? He was worried and needed to check on her. That's what friends do. That's what friends do. That's what friends do, he kept repeating to himself, trying to convince his worry was still within the 'friends' limits. He hoped with all his heart that no empathy had made its appearance yet, or else he would probably be screwed.

***So, there you have the second chapter! I will improvise a bit with their skills, but it's all for a good cause! Next up are some more CyRae discussions and group interactions. Please tell me how you've found it so far! I go ecstatic when I read your reviews! Thanks for reading so far! Regards, Maven Alazais.***


	3. Chapter 3

***Hello, again! I'm trying to give you a chapter a day but it's not easy! :P I didn't receive any feedback on the last chapter, so I'll just suppose you liked it? Hahah. If you're reading this so far for the first time, please write me a small review to tell me how you found it! Just a simple word will do! :D Thanks for reading. Maven Alazais***

**CHAPTER THREE**

Another day, another couple of dozens of pancakes. Cyborg was frying the homemade dough, while having his every sense pinned on the door. He found himself anxiously expecting Raven to show up for their early morning rendez-vous. He scolded himself severely after realizing that he was burning up once again and tried to focus on his cooking, unsuccessfully, as the only thing he could think of was a marvelous pair of purple eyes and a teleporting witch.

Predictably enough, the door slid open and Raven entered the room.

"Morning." She said, floating a few inches above the ground and moving towards the kitchen corner.

"Good mornin', Raven! How are ya?"

"Well."

"I thought you'd teleport inside today."

Raven looked at him from the corner of her eye from over the herb cupboard. "You overrate my new skill."

"You teleported alright yesterday!"

"For three meters... Cyborg, I can't do long distances yet. It's still too...fresh."

"Okay, okay. I was jus' sayin'. Want a pancake today?"

"No, thanks."

Cyborg nodded. He noted, though, that it was the first time she actually said 'thanks' after declining his offer. It made him happy, for a peculiar reason.

Raven took a strawberry-flavored teabag out, placing it inside her cup. Upon pouring hot water inside it, the strawberry scent filled their nostrils.

Cyborg inhaled deeply. "New tea flavor?"

Raven shrugged, taking a sip. "Starfire said it was good."

"Is it?"

"It's...different."

"Is it good different?"

"Like all different things, it has its charm." She sat on her chair and silently sipped some more. Cyborg sat across her with his pancake-filled plate and started eating, eyeing her every now and then. She seemed somehow different today as well, and, as she very correctly said, she had a new charm about her, as everything different does.

Raven magically brought the coffee machine on their table and removed its lid. Its mechanical parts were ripped out and remained floating around their table space.

"What are you doin', Raven?!" Cyborg asked, swallowing one of his final pancake pieces.

A barely-there smile appeared on her lips. She put her teacup down and started naming all of the parts correctly, as he had taught her yesterday, after three long hours.

Cyborg watched her awestruck name everything with her monotone voice.

"Somebody's been studyin'!"

"I told you I'm a quick learner."

"Yeah!"

"Now, put them back." She said, pushing them all over to his side.

"Hey, hey, hey! That's not fair!"

Raven shrugged her shoulders. "I know how to name the parts, not how to put them to work."

"Oh, really?" Cyborg said, arching his eyebrow. "Then come over here, and I'll show ya. Unless you got anythin' more important to do."

Raven simply came to sit next to him and folded her arms. "Show me, then."

When the rest of the titans came down for breakfast, they saw them both kneeling over a rickety coffee machine, seriously involved in putting its parts back in place.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Cyborg laughed loudly at Beast Boy's third consecutive loss.

Beast Boy pouted and frowned. "You must be cheating!" He whined.

"Nah, I'm just_ that_ good!" Cyborg replied and kept laughing.

Raven was sitting by the window, with a big book open on her lap. She lazily flipped a page over, listening to Starfire babble by Robin's ear.

"But why, Robin, does the birth of the Christ require the decoration of the pine tree with colorful balls?"

"I don't know."

"And why does the Hall of Win require the dressing up?"

"It's Halloween and I don't know, Star. I think I showed you how to use the Internet."

Starfire huffed and walked towards her computer.

Raven sighed, staring at the horizon for some moments. A loud alarm sounded around and Robin called them up. "Johnny Rancid again! Causing trouble in the city. Let's go!"

Raven rolled her eyes. These baboons were always disturbing their tranquility and she seriously had much better things to do.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Johnny, apparently, wanted to test some new gadgets of his, causing a mayhem in the city centre. A new pistol he had created had melted the foundations of several major buildings with people inside. Robin had given them clear orders to evacuate them immediately, while he would pursue the crazy cyclist himself.

Raven had been gliding through office walls for some time now, trying to locate any trapped workers, while Starfire held a column from falling for the people to get out. Beast Boy had turned into a large dinosaur, letting people from higher floors to climb on his head to get them down. Cyborg made sure no debris would fall on them.

They were surprised to find Robin heading back towards them, with his grappling hook. "It's a decoy!" He shouted. "They're trying to keep us busy to rob the main bank!"

"There are people still inside!" Cyborg shouted back at him.

"You and Beast Boy take them out! Starfire, Raven, with me!"

Cyborg mumbled something under his breath and ran to where Beast Boy was. A building they had just evacuated fell down with a big cloud of dust.

"Quickly!" Beast Boy told him. "Hold the place a bit, I need to get some people from the top floor!"

"Be quick!"

Beast Boy turned into an eagle and flew up.

Meanwhile, Raven and Starfire were flying alongside the agile running Robin, who was blaming himself for not realizing it earlier.

"They'll have all the money gone by the time we get there!" He yelled, using his grappling hook here and there to keep up with them.

"We'll get him, do not worry!" Starfire said but he shook his head.

"Not when Billy Numerous is involved!"

"We're just some blocks away." Raven tried to reason.

A new idea crossed Robin's head. "Raven, you need to teleport there!"

Raven's eyes widened. "I can't!"

"Yes you can! You did it yesterday!"

"I could see where I wanted to go and Starfire was in danger!"

"You know the bank! You've been there many times! Teleport!"

"I tell you I can't!"

"Do it!"

"Robin!"

"Do it!" Robin insisted, shouting loudly.

Raven had tried to warn him but he just wouldn't listen and now she had to follow his order. She closed her eyes and tried to picture the bank as clearly as she could. It was far. Further than anywhere she had teleported before –the two times she had, at least. She tried to focus as much as she could, God knows she did. She felt her mind flood with her magic and her body being 'lifted' up once again, but something felt wrong. When she landed in front of a bank teller, she felt dizzy and was barely able to stand. She saw hundreds of red figures running by and realized they were Billy's duplicates and that's what Robin had sent her there to deal with.

She was about to turn into her black raven, but she couldn't really guide her magic to do so. She felt like throwing up for a second. It was too much to handle. Next thing she knew, she had shook her hands and a big black pulse originated from her body and expanded, dragging some of the Billies along and making them crash on the bank's walls. More Billies ran by her side and that's when she knew she had lost her control for now. She felt her anger fill her up as her demonic side took over and time seemed to slow down. Her palms turned black, as did all of the thief's clones as well. The magically captured duplicates began to shook violently until they disappeared and the original Billy seemed to suffocate. She held him tightly inside her magic grip, as many objects around the bank began to tremble dangerously.

She saw Starfire and Robin enter the bank, whose floor was covered in money bills, and in a last attempt to regain control, she shouted 'Take me out!' to them. One of Starfire's rays hit her and she fell on the ground, along with Billy.

She should have passed out, she thought. But she was very much conscious. She exploited the split second of anger lack she got from the fall to pronounce 'Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos' and her mind slipped into her meditation state, which she so much needed at the moment.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

It had been worse than Raven had expected. If she had to put her experience into words, she'd say that she had locked a fast-growing venus flytrap into one of her mind's rooms. It would grow, but she would be there to monitor its growth and when it was time, she would take it to a bigger room. It would be a large flower, but she would have made it pretty, after cultivating it herself, slowly and carefully. Now, it was as if someone had put an alien fertilizer on her plant, and it had mutated into a vicious, enormous fly trap that had broken free from its room and was roaming around her mind freely, breaking the locks of the rest of the rooms inside her head, unleashing the rest of her skills to wander around freely, until they reached her other side, the one she struggled to keep under control.

During her meditation, she had to force her skills to go back into their 'rooms' and slip under her control again, while simultaneously fighting off the untamed venus flytrap. When its time came, she had to cut off its branches, break its main core and damage some of its flowers in order to put it back inside carefully and regain her tranquility. It had been exhausting. Her skill had grown abruptly and she hadn't been ready for such a change. She would have to monitor it more frequently, after moderating it. Since it was stronger now, she needed to make sure it wouldn't break 'free' again.

When she reopened her eyes, feeling wary, she realized she was still inside the bank. Many people were sweeping the bills from the floor, placing them inside the safe, while some others were checking the damage done in the building.

"Friend Raven?" Starfire asked, approaching Raven and looking at her worriedly. "Are you well?"

"I think so."

"What happened? Did Billy Numerous make you furious?"

"I need to have a word with Robin." She said, frowning angrily.

"He is at home now, with Cyborg and Beast Boy, to track down the runaway Johnny Rancid. I stayed here to monitor you, friend, and take care of you."

"Let's go home."

"Yes, let us go back now." Starfire agreed nodding. She thanked some of the people there and they flew home.

O-O-O-O-O-O

The main room's door slid open, as Starfire entered cheerfully, with a grim Raven walking behind her. The boys turned around from the seats, asking questions about them.

"Raven! Are you alright?" Cyborg asked.

"Yeah! We heard you made a mess of the bank!" Beast Boy said, giggling.

Raven shot him a mean look and his smile vanished. She turned her burning eyes to Robin and his eyebrows shot up.

"When I tell you I can't do something," she said in a calm voice, although they could all swear it was the usual calmness before the storm, "I have my reasons."

"But you teleported to the bank okay..."

"Okay?" She asked, arching an eyebrow. "Starfire, please give us the definition of 'okay'."

"Okay means either alright, safe, sound, feeling well, or adequate but unremarkable."

"You heard her. It means alright and feeling well. I _wasn't _alright. I felt sick. I lost control, Robin. You saw what I did to that bank and to Billy Numerous."

"But what does-"

"You shouldn't have made me teleport! I don't know how to use that power well and I told you so! You know it's hard for me to keep everything balanced. I told you, but you didn't listen! You can't even imagine the state in which my mind was after that!"

Robin listened to her awestruck. Beast Boy whispered to Cyborg that it was probably the most words they had ever heard her say.

"I'm sorry, Raven. But would you have me do? He would get away!"

"Let him get away! We would gave gotten him. I could have brought the building down if Starfire hadn't hit me, and probably injured or maybe killed so many people!"

"Okay, I'll never order you to teleport again until you tell me you have it under control."

"It's something." She told him, giving him a degrading head-to-toe look and storming outside, passing through walls to get to her room.

"Nice job, Boy Wonder." Cyborg said, moving towards the kitchen corner.

Robin sighed and Starfire caressed his shoulder. "Fear not, Robin. She is fine but a bit afraid, like when our Traphgans turn into Harglorphs. It will all be well."

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Cyborg didn't hesitate to knock this time. Holding the warm cup on his right hand, he knocked with his left and waited for Raven's reply. Her door slid open just a bit, only for her sullen face to appear.

"Hey." He said lowly. "I br-"

The whole door was opened and Raven stepped aside to let him in. Cyborg couldn't have been more surprised. He had only been inside her room three times, and that was one when they intruded, and two when it was a necessity to intervene into something. This time he actually got _invited _inside? His heart jumped a little. He took a hesitant step inside.

"It's fine." He heard her say and he moved further inside. It was very dark in there, but his red mechanical eye had night vision, so it wasn't that much for a problem for him. She made it better, though, but lighting up some candles with the simple shake of her hand.

"I brought you some tea." He said, hoping he didn't sound sappy.

She gave him a good look and took the tea. "Thanks?"

"Are you seriously fine now?" He asked.

Raven shrugged and sat on her bed. "I believe so."

"You had to meditate, eh?" Cyborg asked, looking around for somewhere to sit.

"For four hours."

"Got everything under control now, right?"

"Yes. Luckily."

"Look, I'm sorry for Robin. You know he gets anxious with Johnny's doings and stuff..."

"It was awful." Raven said.

"If you need someone to talk, I'm here, y'know." He said, genuinely interested in hearing her out, knowing it was probably hopeless, though. To his surprise for another time that day, Raven patted the space next to her on her bed.

He frowned. "Can I...?"

"You didn't think I'd have you stand the whole time, did you?"

He shrugged and awkwardly sat on her bed, carefully not to go too near. "I hear you."

Raven sighed, staring at her wall. "You know how I hate it when that happens."

"When you lose it a bit, you mean?"

"Yes."

"I think you can always get it back together, Rae. You're very strong."

She shook her head. "It's my constant fear. What if I can't get it under control? I'm dangerous."

"You can and we're here to help ya, don't forget that. We all have our struggles."

"He shouldn't have pushed me. He knows what I can do, he knows that I can't always let my powers loose just like that!"

"Yeah, he shouldn't have, I agree with that."

"It felt so badly, Cyborg. You cannot understand."

"I can try."

Raven sighed deeply. "It's of no use. Thanks for being here, though."

"What do you thank me for? You're my friend, aren't you?"

"I guess."

"You guess? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Friends aren't threats to each other's lives."

"Cut it out, Raven. You're threat to no one. You're a hero. You save lives. End of story."

"Yeah, right."

"It was just a bad moment. You got everythin' under control so it's okay, in the end of the day."

"My teleportation powers did grow..."

"See? Somethin' good came of it. Now, he'll never push you like that again, so don't worry."

"I'll try not to."

"That's all I can ask for."

"Cyborg?" She asked, turning to look at him.

"Yes?" He blessed his good luck for the dim lighting that didn't betray his flushing.

"Do you think I'm a freak? When I go berserk?"

"A freak?! What are ya even talkin' about? Of course you're not a freak. And who am I to judge? I'm eighty percent metal, have a red eye and gears for body parts."

She smiled lightly. "I'm half-demon and I can have four red eyes, so you're a perfect judge."

"Even with four eyes, I still think you're..." Amazing, he thought. Pretty. Powerful. Breathtaking. Mysterious. Superb. "...not a freak. Not even close to a freak."

"Thank you."

"Welcome."

"Now, I think I want to meditate a bit more."

"Oh, of course." Cyborg said, standing up.

"Thanks for everything."

"Don't mention it." He said, walking to the door.

"Oh, and sorry for skipping today's tech class."

"You'll make up for it tomorrow." Cyborg said, half-smiling and exiting.

Raven folded her legs. She wanted to meditate to dive a bit into this new and exciting feeling of intimacy she was just commencing to experience. It was bizarre. Yes, it was intimidating, but she had a premonition that she could use it for her own good. This could prove to be great. Yes, yes, it could. Meditating would be enjoyable now, unlike before.

***Here's the third chapter! I'm taking their relationship veeery slowly to the next level. Please, I'm begging you (hehe) to write a small review with your opinion on this fic, whether it is good or bad. I'm honored to receive them and I want to know if my writing and story are satisfying! I hope you have enjoyed it so far, thanks for reading! Till next chapter, take care. Maven Alazais.**

**PS. Sorry for any typos I haven't noticed.***


	4. Chapter 4

***A/N: Thanks to the lovely guest who reviewed and everyone who favorited/followed. It means so much! So, I hope you've enjoyed what you've read so far, please let me know how you found this fourth chapter!***

**CHAPTER FOUR**

"Hydraulics?"

"Check."

"Plasma theory?"

"Check."

"Quantum and Robotic Basics?"

"Check."

"A. I. Ethics and Principles?"

"Check."

"Friction, oscillations and sound waves?"

"Check."

"Well, Raven, it's seems like we've covered the whole theoretic part!" Cyborg exclaimed.

"Great."

"No, really! It's unbelievable how you grasped everythin' in just...what? A week?"

Raven shrugged, sipping the remainder of her peach tea.

"Now we need to get practical, then. Are you ready to get your hands _dirty_?" Cyborg asked, laughing.

Raven half-smiled. "More than ready."

Well, truth be told, mechanics weren't Raven's piece of cake. She disliked physics and most of the things she had been attentively studying during these days, but she had a purpose and that was to be ready to help her friend in case he was 'injured'. She was also pleasantly surprised to find out that Cyborg was a gifted teacher, patient and very thorough. Today, the prospect of delving into more practical matters made her just a bit excited to break free from the theories she had been studying and had been finding quite dull.

"Want to go now?" She said.

"But it's...seven thirty in the mornin'!"

"So? You don't seem too sleepy." Raven noted, arching an eyebrow.

"Of course I'm not sleepy! But, sure. Let's go now."

"See you there." Raven said, smiling lightly but mischievously, teleporting to his lab, leaving him to stare wide-eyed at where she used to be a second ago.

She wanted to show him her new trick for some days now. Since she had gotten accustomed to his lab so much, it was easy for her to picture the place clearly and teleport herself there, since it wasn't too far. What she still couldn't do was to teleport to places she didn't know. That was the next step.

Half a minute later, Cyborg sprinted through the lab's door, his heavy steps being audible from practically the start of the hallway. He found her sitting cross-legged on her stool, her long, purple hair falling gracefully around her.

What a sight, he thought. If only this thing could be _practical _in another way, his naughty self whispered and he swallowed, trying to make him hush.

"Raven, are you sure you want to get busy with my anatomy?"

"I'm here, aren't I?"

"You're certain you don't have anything magical to study?"

"Are you suggesting that my magical skills require dusting?" Raven asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Hell no!"

"Then get to it. We're wasting precious time."

"Okay..." He approached their workbench and shuffled through some papers. "I have made you a little somethin'... Just to help you with your studies, it's nothin' much. Ahuh! Here it is!" He handed her three pieces of papers.

Raven took a quick look at them. He had drawn his front, back and sides, and the mechanisms inside, to give her the general idea of his systems. She saw several arrows, pointing to some parts and explaining some of their details.

"You really underestimate your appearance." She said, looking at how he had sketched himself.

"What? I know my measurements perfectly!"

"But the drawing analogies are off. Here. Hand me a pencil."

Cyborg gave her a pencil lying on the bench and she started scribbling while Cyborg waited patiently. In a couple of minutes, she showed him his front drawing, with a few modifications. She had made his chest area wider compared to his legs and waist, his shoulders quite bulkier and had also erased his previous face, and drawn him all over. The face he saw sketched was...well, 'prettier' that he ever thought he looked. It had a nice, firm, jaw-line, a big eye with a determined look and fine characteristics.

"That's more like it." She said.

"Uh...Wow? I didn't know you could draw that well."

"It's a mere sketch of the reality. I had visual contact with the subject."

Cyborg felt extremely flattered. Did she really see him like that? Oh, he hoped he wasn't blushing. "Okay, well, hm, anyway. You'll study these and I'll slowly begin to show you how I work."

"Okay."

"It is a bit weird, isn't it?"

Raven shrugged. "It's for your own good."

"Yeah, I know. So, where do ya want to start from?"

"Your canon arm."

"Straight to it, then!"

He put his hand on their workbench, sitting on his stool. "So, this is my baby."

"I thought the T car was your 'baby'."

"They're both my babies!"

"Alright!"

"Now. My outer case consists of-"

"Can you feel?"

"Feel what?"

"_Feel._" She hesitantly put her hand over his mechanical forearm and stroked it lightly. "Do you feel this?"

Cyborg felt as if he had been put it into an oven, and his temperature was gradually rising. Her touch was so very gentle and kind and...unexpected. It wasn't like a mere pat-on-the-back, or an accidental bump. It was more. He liked it very much, as he was starting to like the person doing it; very much. Gently, and keeping his facial expressions in control, he brought his other hand on top of hers and stroked the back of her palm with his finger.

"Just like you feel this."

Raven slowly withdrew her hand and Cyborg could swear he could see her pale, almost grey, skin turn pink. Wanting not to make it awkward, he went on with the scientific talk.

"There are micro-sensors coverin' my mechanical surfaces, that are directly connected to my neurons, sendin' the signals to my brain, just like it works with human skin. Of course it's much more resistant since it's, y'know, metal but it's equally sensitive."

Raven nodded, glad he took the subject to its technical aspect. She didn't know what had brought her to touch him. She wasn't used to doing things like this. Yet she didn't regret it, because she liked it. There was no point in lying to herself; she wanted to _touch _him, and that's what she did. Now, as to why she felt like doing it, she needed to go back inside herself to think, but this was not the time. Or maybe she could ask- Cyborg popping the top of his arm open with a small screwdriver cut her thought string.

The inside of his hand was very complicated. It had many small gears, pistons, plasma tanks, several kinds of sensors and rods.

"You can begin with guessing what each thing does." He said and she started naming the parts and pronouncing her estimations.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Raven was sitting on the rooftop of their Tower, watching the sun lazily make his way towards the horizon, as the sea turned every color between orange and purple. Starfire had decided to join her and enjoy the light breeze that pushed her fiery hair in all possible directions.

"Why did you come up?" Raven asked, keeping her gaze fixed on the landscape.

"Robin was occupied with his utility belt and Cyborg and Beast Boy were competing in the games of video, while Cyborg said you were a very good with hydraulics and machinery, unlike Beast Boy." Raven noted that. "So, in order to fight my boredom, I thought I could join you."

"Hm."

"You look very well, friend Raven. Have you been doing anything with your hair?"

"Why, was my hair a mess before today?" Raven asked, arching an eyebrow very high.

"No, no!" Starfire said, shaking her hands. "You look healthy and radiant, that was all I wished to say."

"Thanks. You too."

Starfire grinned widely. "It is the love, Raven."

"Uh?"

"People on my planet and on Earth say that whenever someone is in the love, he or she shines!"

"...Right..."

"It's true! Although in my planet it usually happens only in successful marriages, since here on Earth you have other relationship patterns..."She noted, with a confused face.

"Robin makes you happy, I presume?"

"Oh, yes! Robin, my boy-friend, makes me happy. As do all of my friends here!"

"You're an official couple, aren't you?" Raven asked, suddenly interested in some girly talk that she hadn't had for years.

"He says so, yes. We are in a special, affectionate and erotically driven bond, agreeing not to have the same with other people and to be faithful to the sentiments we have for each other, while sharing gifts after certain time periods from the day we said we were a 'couple'."

"They're called anniversaries."

"Yes, of course. Anniversaries."

Raven sighed. Starfire was the only female friend she had and she needed to ask some things she didn't even properly know how to phrase. And although she knew Starfire meant no harm, she was afraid something might slip to the others. However, she decided to go for it and ask.

"Starfire, can I ask you something?"

"I will reply to all of your questions with honesty, friend Raven."

"But you cannot tell anyone I asked you these things. Not even Robin."

"Your secrets are safe with me. No word shall escape my mouth, I promise."

"How did you know you...liked Robin? In a not-only-as-friends sense?"

"At first I found him handsome. Then I found him nice and cute and kind to me. Then I wanted to spend my time with him and I worried more whenever he was in a potential danger. I also felt wiggly in my tummy whenever he spoke to me and told me nice things, like many Trephirdons were dancing inside of me." She giggled while speaking. "Oh! I like to touch him as well, and have him touch me too, because my body finds our physical contact amusing. Robin says it's called 'I find you sexy' but I'm not yet accustomed with that term."

"And don't you think that...touching thing is a bit awkward? No?"

"No. Not with my Robin. Maybe it is a bit at first but it is nice! I enjoy the kissing very much too."

Raven nodded, making a mental list of the 'symptoms' Starfire numbered.

"Why are you asking me, Raven? Is there someone you wish to like?"

"I don't know."

"Yes, these situations are very complicated here on Earth."

"And how did you tell Robin?"

"He understood it and then we talked in private and he told me he liked me and he explained some things to me and I told him I liked him too and that was it."

"Everything's so much easier when you're an alien princess with no knowledge what-so-ever of how things are done on here..."

"What do you mean, Raven?"

Raven sighed. "Never mind."

Starfire smiled and started looking at the sunset with her. Raven got lost into her thoughts again. Did she find Cyborg handsome? Yes. Did she think he was nice and kind to her? Of course. Did she want to spend her time with him? What was she doing all these afternoons, anyway? Did she worry more about him? That remained to be found. Did she felt 'wiggly' when he spoke to her? Not really. She felt nice, yes, and very interested in their talk. Maybe Raven saw things different than Starfire on this matter. Did she like to touch him? Yes. Would she like to have him touch her? Possibly.

It was all too new for her. How was she to know how to handle these things? And what about Cyborg? She was probably misinterpreting some things, right?

Absorbed in being afraid and confused and trying to understand, she didn't realize how this new confusion had resulted in several objects around them turning black and being levitated above ground. When she saw them, she quickly put them down and excused herself. She retreated to her chamber to meditate and tidy up these new feelings, like she always did.

"Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos."

She slipped inside her mind.

Little did she know that should anyone have asked Cyborg the questions she asked herself before, he would have answered 'hell yeah!' to all of them.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"Raven, it's insane." Cyborg said after having heard her idea.

"No, it's not."

"Yes it is! How did you even come up with it?"

"I was meditating yesterday"-she didn't mention the cause of her need to meditate-"and it popped up in my head."

"It can't work."

"Why not? Theoretically speaking, it's possible."

"But how do we _practically _do it?"

Raven approached him. "If I am behind or next to you, I can channel my magic to your specialized tank. Then, you will set your nitronite cord on blending mode and shoot the mixture. It will be very powerful and very well-aimed. Cyborg, it's a win-win situation. Give it a shot."

Cyborg didn't like meddling with his armor system, but it was Raven who asked him to, and God knew he couldn't tell her no. Not when she was standing this close and looking at him like that. He was blessed that Starfire had assured him no empathy had made its appearance on her, otherwise Raven would sense the affection practically oozing out of him.

Cyborg sighed and looked at her in the eyes. "Only 'cause it's you, okay?"

"Trust me."

I'd trust you with my life, he thought, and nodded. "Just be careful."

"We'll do a small one, just to check if it is possible."

"Obviously. Rae."

"If it feels weird, just say so and we'll stop."

"You bet that's what I'm gonna do." He turned to the plastic target he used to practice his shots. Raven stood by his side, but just a step behind.

"Open it up." She said.

Cyborg lifted his right hand up and a very small hole appeared on his mechanic shoulder. "Now." He said.

Raven led a black line of her magic inside the small hole and his light blue lines turned black. "Shifting nitronite..."He said and his forearm lines turned black as well. "Ready to shoot..." The sound of his canon arming up echoed around. "Now!"

He shot like he usually did. Only this time, the ray that came out was half-plasma half-pure magic. It hit the target right on the chest and it was shot several meters back, while catching on a blackish fire.

"Didn't work too bad, did it?" Raven said, unimpressed.

Cyborg span around, wide-eyed, with an ecstatic smile. "Raven!"

"Yes?" She said monotonously.

He took a big step to her and squeezed both of her shoulders. "It was amazing! Did you-did you see wh-"

"Yes, I'm not blind."

His face was the closest it has ever been to hers. He was panting lightly, being over enthusiastic with this new combination of their powers. "Do you realize what we'll be able to do with this?"

Raven simply grinned, pinning her eyes on his face. "Told you."

"You are amazing! You're my very own tech genius!"

Upon hearing these words she felt as if her stomach had been tied up in a knot and she tensed a bit. Was this what Starfire described as many somethings dancing inside of her? Maybe.

Cyborg had been lost staring at those wide amethyst eyes. She was clever, she was beautiful, she was creative and she was but a breath away from him. He had never wanted to kiss someone so much. Every particle and every cell he had ached from anticipation. And yet he didn't do it. He couldn't. What if she didn't want to kiss him as well? She probably didn't. He was just going to make a fool of himself and embarrass the girl in the process. And, painfully, he took a step back.

"The 'tech genius'" Raven said, "needs to go run some errands now." And with errands she meant an emergency meditation session because she was finally beginning to truly understand. She wanted him to touch her. There goes another check.

"Yes, sure."

"We'll practice this again tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

She grinned at him and slid through the walls to get to her chamber.

***Oh how I love blocking my characters' moments! Haha! Don't worry, it won't be too long before they're...you know ;) I have improvised a lot with their skills, but don't bother with it. Please, please, please, review and tell me how you found it. Thanks for reading so far! Take care!***


	5. Chapter 5

***A/N: Chapter Five, Chapter Five! Hehe! I'm very excited to write this! I have nice stuff planned for this chapter:D**

**Yes, I know Cyborg can't practically feel over his metal, but I improvised a bit there as well. Hehe. Anyway, thanks for reading and to everyone who favorited too! If you have anything to say, please write a small review for me to know how you found it! See you at the end again!***

**CHAPTER FIVE**

"Come on, Raven!" Beast Boy said, prancing around the place she was sitting.

"No."

"Please! Please, Raven."

"No." Raven insisted, pinning her eyes on her book again.

"But I'm bored and Cy's bored too and-"

"No."

Beast Boy turned into a lively beagle dog and started howling and barking at her to comply to his wishes. Raven simply shook her hand and a black magic muzzle trapped the canine's mouth. Beast Boy returned to his normal self and sat next to her, folding his arms.

"Why don't you want to go out?"

"I wonder..." Raven replied sarcastically.

"We'll take you somewhere with very few people, and nice candles, and dim lighting and tasteless food of your choice and-"

"If I wanted tasteless food I'd try your soy cakes."

Beast Boy pouted. "They're not tasteless."

Raven remained silent, not wanting to touch the soy subject they had already exhausted throughout the years.

"Why don't we go play some ultra-amazing stunkball then?" He asked, sparkly-eyed.

Raven slowly turned her head to his direction and shot him a mean look. "Which part of 'no' didn't you get, exactly?"

"Volleyball?"

Raven sighed and the main room's door slid open. Cyborg paced inside, grinning widely. "Did someone say volleyball?"

"Cyborg, I'm bored!" Beast Boy complained. "And Raven doesn't want to do anything!"

"Why don't you two go do something and just let me be? Is it _that _hard?" Raven told Beast Boy.

"You're boring!"

"Gee, how could I ever live with that?"

"Come on, now." Cyborg said, approaching them. "Raven, there must be somethin' you want to do."

"No stunkball, no volleyball, no videogames. Also no clubbing, no dancing and no singing."

"Let's go have some pizza, then!" Beast Boy said. "You can't say no to pizza, Raven!"

"Well, pizza sounds pretty good..." Cyborg commented and Raven shut her book close.

"Okay. We'll go for pizza under one condition..." She squinted her eyes to Beast Boy. "No jokes. At all."

"Alright, my lady!" Beast Boy said, jumping up. "No jokes, but plenty of pizza!" He giggled.

Raven got up and shrugged, looking at Cyborg. He half-smiled.

"Can I drive?" Beast Boy asked.

"Not in a million years." Cyborg asked.

"Why don't you ever let me drive?"

"You'd be dead before you got your paws on my baby's steerin' wheel."

"Because _we_'ll be dead if he does get them on it..." Raven said and Cyborg laughed, a little louder than such a joke would usually make one laugh.

Beast Boy was about to say something when the alarm sounded around and their vast screen lit up, projecting the image of Robin driving on his motorcycle, with Starfire riding behind him.

"Titans! We got a serious problem!"

"What is it, Rob?" Cyborg asked.

"We got three villains on the loose! Starfire and I have spotted Madame Rouge and we're getting to her in some minutes. Brother Blood and Plasmus are causing trouble downtown."

"Brother Blood? How the hell did he-" Cyborg said but Robin intervened.

"I don't know how they escaped, but they're back and we need to take them out. All three of you take Blood and Plasmus. I'm sending the coordinates on your communicators." The transmission ended.

"Let's go." Cyborg said, with a grim look on his face.

"So much for the pizza plans..."Beast Boy whined, turning into a hawk and flying out.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"This is good..." Raven mumbled ironically when they arrived at Robin's coordinates. Plasmus had once turned into a vast mud-like creature, blocking roads and destroying buildings, while Brother Blood was flying only some meters behind him. He was a complete Cyborg again, maybe a little more advanced than what he was before, judging from his looks.

"Who put him back anyway?" Raven wondered.

Cyborg had a very deep frown on his face. He remembered very clearly the last time he had encountered Brother Blood. His telepathy couldn't touch him, but the rest of his systems were mechanical like his, and now Brother Blood seemed more armed than him in all levels.

"If these aren't my favorite Titans!" The villain called. "I'm here to tie up some loose ends I left the last time."

"We'll tie you up for good, Blood!" Cyborg said, preparing his canon.

"I'm off to Plasmus!" Beast Boy said, turning into a big gorilla.

"Let's put this psycho down." Raven said, summoning her magic to her hands.

"Raven," Cyborg said, as a plasma beam concentrated on his canon, "stand down. I have unfinished business with this scum." And so he shot his ray and hit Brother Blood straight on the chest. The evil man banged on a wall several meters behind but stood up immediately, smirking meanly.

"Fool!" He called, shooting one of his beams to Cyborg, who was thrown up in the air and fell messily down on a parked car. Brother Blood shot him again, and Cyborg hit on a wall and fell face down again. The villain laughed evilly. She barely noticed Beast Boy turning into a massive octopus to contain Plasmus.

Raven observed this exchange of fire wide-eyed. She felt a small surge of pain in her chest as she watched Cyborg crumble down and scolded herself for not intervening earlier. She went between the two and lifted a black veil of her magic to shield them from Blood's rays.

Cyborg painfully lifted himself up.

"W-What...I told you-"

"And I chose not to listen to you." Raven said, focusing on her veil. "Cyborg, you're not alone."

"He's my-"

"I don't care. You're a titan, not a solo act. So we'll do this together. You didn't leave me alone with Trigon, did you?"

"...No."

"I can't hold this much longer." She said, frowning, as more and more beams crushed on her black veil. "Let's do the combined attack. I'll give you all I've got. His suit won't take so much magic concentrated."

Cyborg nodded, jumping to her. He lifted his right arm and prepared his canon for her magic, shifting the nitronite cord and making the needed adjustments.

"I'm going to leave the veil on three. Be ready to strike two seconds after that."

Cyborg nodded again. "Thank you."

"One..." Raven whispered, watching the mechanical sorcerer get furious. "Two, three!"

Her veil broke into millions of pieces. Within a mere fragment of a second, she brought her hands to his shoulder and tried to 'push' as much magic as she could. Cyborg's arm's blue parts turned jet-black, as the sound of his canon arming came as a lullaby to her ears. A red ray from Brother Blood's canon was aiming for his hand, but their combined ray was shot before it reached them. A thick, black ray came out of his hand, swallowing Blood's one and Blood himself. Through Raven's magic, they saw his white outline, as many parts of his gear were being ripped apart and a look of absolute terror decorated his face. Soon, he fell on the ground with a loud 'thud'. Raven kneeled down, trying to catch her breath from the effort. It was harder than she expected, but still worth it.

"Booyah!" Cyborg exclaimed but turned to see her and his smile vanished.

"Rae! Are you okay?"

"Yes, Cyborg. Go check on Blood, make sure he's down for good."

"But-"

"Go!"

Cyborg nodded and ran to Blood. Raven saw Robin and Starfire approach. Madame Rouge was dealt with, then. That was good.

Starfire joined Beast Boy in containing the ever-growing Plasmus and Robin ran to her side.

"Raven! Are you alright?"

"Yes! Relax!" She answered, coming back to her feet.

"What happened here?"

"Blood got an upgrade."

"And how-"

"We got an upgrade too." She said, smirking, but then her face turned even whiter than before, noticing something several meters away.

Cyborg had run to the fallen villain as fast as he could. He was almost all covered with debris but still barely conscious. He was...laughing?

"Your little girlfriend got you out of trouble this time, eh?" He said, coughing.

"What do ya want?" Cyborg spat.

"The final piece in perfecting my suit. And you're"-he coughed-"going to give it to me."

"I ain't givin' you nothin'!"

"Who said willingly?"

Next thing Cyborg knew, he was surrounded by something red and transported somewhere else.

Raven watched in horror Cyborg's body being teleported somewhere. She should have known that Brother Blood had probably enhanced his psychokinetic abilities as well.

"Cyborg!" Starfire shouted, when she saw it too.

Raven thought she was losing it again. Cyborg was somewhere they didn't know, with people that would probably want to harm him, while her city was being destroyed. That made her furious. Seriously furious. Her eyes shone bright red and she levitated herself up, while Robin watched her awe-struck.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" She said and Plasmus and Brother Blood were levitated as well. She was panting in anger.

She turned her head towards the mutated Plasmus and her crow-self exited her body, entered his and dived into whatever consciousness was left inside of the creature. Mercilessly, she shut him down and let whatever was left fall on the ground to be gathered by those who would put him back into his soundproof chamber.

"Where's Cyborg?" She yelled at Brother Blood, while her overflowing energy made her cape whip around crazily, while cars and other objects were exploding.

"Raven calm down!" Robin shouted but she ignored him. She was righteously angry, but for the first time in her life, she knew what to do with her anger. She would control it.

"Where is he?!" She shouted again, but Blood simply laughed. Raven grew impatient. Her black soul-self exited her body and entered Blood's, who was left gaping.

It was one of the few times she had to psychically get information from somebody's mind. She disliked it, because it was messy and affected her as well; unifying your mind with another's took its toll on her serenity. Brother Blood was a gifted psychic. He resisted her intrusion; of course he did. He tried to push her back and enter hers. But he was a fool. She was not to be toyed with, especially her mind. She growled and with an outburst of her magic, Blood's mental and magical barriers were brought down, and she easily, now, got the information she wanted, rendering him unconscious and letting him fall on the ground too.

She breathed heavily and turned back to her normal, yet agitated, self.

"I'm going to get him." She announced.

"Raven!" Beast Boy said. "What did you do?"

"I went into his head. I know where they're keeping Cyborg."

"It is not safe now that you are angry, my friend!" Starfire said. "You usually meditate when, as you phrase it, lose it."

"I know what to do!" She shouted at Starfire, who looked at her sadly. "I'm going to teleport there. Now."

"Raven, no!" Robin cried at her. "You can't."

"I will."

"No. Especially now, with your anger playing with you. No!"

Raven was angry alright. But she had to keep it together. She had to, for the sake of Cyborg. Besides, her anger gave her power. Uncontrollable, but power nonetheless.

"23. 46.11.34." Raven told them and shut her eyes, focusing as hard as she could on pinpointing the location and carrying herself there. It was scary; her mind at that moment was absolutely horrifying; things going on around, herself feeling particularly vicious, emotions running wild. But she had to do it. She 'locked' her destination mentally and her body was lifted upwards, as she teleported to where Brother Blood had teleported Cyborg too.

She found herself into a big warehouse. Not many meters away, she saw a dismantled Cyborg lying soullessly on a bench-able, surrounded by many masked men; she guessed technicians, and armed guards. His body parts were placed around his 'bed'. How did they manage to do it so quickly?

She would have thought about it a bit more if one of the biggest waves of anger she had ever felt hadn't conquered her head. Her teleportation beast had been unleashed, but that was the least of her problems. It looked like a Yorkie puppy facing a hormone-given fighter pitbull.

Small whips of energy, like electric shots, ran through the air around her. The whole place began to tremble, as she turned black and fearsome, with four red eyes glaring at the jaw-dropping guards. Trying to do their job, they started charging at her, but black magic orbs pushed them back on the ground. Many of them found themselves trapped into a black magic column until they passed down from being suffocated. Raven flew to the technicians, who were hastily trying to finish their work.

"Stop!" She yelled, with a very deep, abyssal voice and everyone froze in place, as if time had been paused. With the shake of both her hands, all of the technicians were covered with her magic and were flung on the walls. The warehouse's door opened abruptly and a new team of guards emerged. She growled in frustration. She didn't have time for these!

As if God had heard her, a bright green ray took three of them down, while a green rhino pushed several of them down like they were bowling pins. She turned back around and finally grasped the sight of Cyborg like that in its full extent. The shock was big. Her anger turned into despair, as she made her way to the ground, turning back to her usual self and approaching the lifeless Cyborg.

She gasped. Apart from taking his limbs away, they had started to operate on his chest and head. What they had done, she didn't know. She could only see his mechanical eye not shining red as it should be, and she panicked, as several objects around them were blown up; a bin, a basket with utensils, a stool. Robin was soon at her side, but he didn't speak, trying to understand what he was seeing as well.

Raven knew she had to do something, but didn't know were to begin. Should she meditate? Probably. Her powers were uncontrolled and she could be dangerous but... But Cyborg needed her and she would rather blow up some things than leave him like that.

"R-Robin, we need to put him back together." She mumbled, levitating his limbs from their places with whatever magical control she could gather.

"I'm not familiar with bio-mechanics, Rae. I don't know what to do..." He admitted, his voice betraying his helplessness.

Her head flooded with Cyborg's sketches and her lessons. She knew she had to bring him back, and that was what she was going to do. So, she levitated Cyborg's left hand into Robin's arms and went for his right.

"Follow my lead." She said, magically unscrewing his hand's lid. Robin did the same with a screwdriver he got from his belt. "See that distributor cable?"

"Yes."

"Connect it with the third gear mechanism, next to the blowing piston."

Robin followed her instructions with caution and soon, Cyborg's arms were in place.

"What are we going to do with his head, though?" He asked. "He doesn't seem to be functional."

"Help me turn him around, they might have disabled his- never mind, just let's turn him around."

"Allow me, friends." Starfire said, from standing behind Robin and observing their work. She easily picked the man's torso and turned him around.

Raven nodded and levitated herself over his back, closely watching his neck and head parts. They had really messed him up. A crate blew up.

Her hands roamed around his cords and cables, trying to restore him. Luckily his brain chips appeared to be in their place, but his energy center was disturbed. After connecting the parts they had ripped apart, she fixed some other damage they had made. He needed charging but she could see no sockets around –or maybe she just wasn't patient enough to look properly for one- so she took matters into her own hands.

"Screw this!" She said, pulling his 'charger' out and fiddling with some other circuits inside of him. She turned to his right arm, pulled the nitronite cord out, connected it with some other cords and put the charger with them.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" She said, her palms turning black once again. She held the charger between them and her magic started to work as power for him. The nitronite cord shone bright blue, pushing her mystic energy inside Cyborg's circuits.

"Come on, come on, come on..." Raven said.

Beast Boy placed his hand on her shoulder, trying to be supportive. Raven sighed and another three crates blew up. A sound of gears turning made her heart skip a bit. It was working?

Starfire squealed upon seeing Cyborg's eye turn red again.

"Friend Cyborg!" She shouted, throwing her hands around his neck. "You're alive again!"

"Don't move." Robin told him once he saw him trying to pull himself up. Raven kept levitating over him, charging him as much as she could.

"I feel...weak." Cyborg said.

"You'll be fine, buddy." Beast Boy said. "We're charging you now."

"This is...This isn't my usual-"

"Stop talking for a bit." Raven said, shutting her eyes. Five more crates blew up with a loud noise and he remained silent. Who knew their 'anatomy' lessons would come in handy so soon?

When he got teleported in here, Cyborg remembered, at least a hundred of people pinned him down. Next thing he knew, someone had pulled of his main cord and he was slowly fading away, no matter how hard he struggled to break free. For now, his head was facing a wall, as he was lying flat on his chest. His hands were alright but he couldn't feel his...legs. He was being charged, but it was different. He had been rescued by his friends, he knew that, but he wasn't sure what was happening now.

"How are you feeling?" Robin asked. "Charged enough to walk?"

"Yeah. I'm charged enough to fight!"

Robin nodded at Raven and she floated over to the ground. She supported herself on the wall, as her eyesight began to get blurry and mumbled "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos," slipping into her head.

Cyborg turned around with his hands.

"Where are my legs?!"

"Here." Starfire said, putting them on the bench table. "The villains disassembled you."

"And how am I half assembled now?"

"Well, Raven and I know a thing or two about mechanics..."Robin said.

Cyborg saw the exploded crates and the unconscious guards and technicians. "What happened, exactly?"

"Raven went berserk!" Beast Boy said. "Demon eyed and all that! Turned Plasmus off and then did some psychic things with Brother Blood and then teleported here!"

"Teleported? What? Did you order her again?" He asked, turning to Robin and steadily connected his right leg to his torso.

"No! I even told her not to! But she did it anyway."

"Man, it was scary as hell!" Beast Boy said. "She had taken all these guards out by herself when we got here."

"And then we got down to fixing you."

"She could concentrate after bein' angry? It seems a little hard to believe."

"I have reason to think that she was highly motivated by strong emotions." Starfire said, nodding and trying to appear sophisticated.

"She saved my ass, then." Cyborg concluded, moving to his left leg.

"It was a hard day."

"Did they capture Blood, Plasmus and-"

"They are safely contained, fear not." Starfire informed him.

Cyborg finished attaching his legs and moved them around. They functioned alright. He would do the finishing touches in his lab.

"Let's go home. We need a good rest."

He picked the meditating Raven in his arms and they left.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

When they returned home, Cyborg was finally more determined than ever to have a serious and honest talk with her. She had saved him, even at the cost of her mental breakdown and that meant a lot. A big lot to him. Since they were so vulnerable with all those lunatics wandering around, powerful enough to shut them down so easily, he understood that he didn't want to die without having her know, at least. Yes, he would probably embarrass himself but that didn't matter. His feelings were too big and too profound to ignore or try to conceal.

He knew, now, that it wasn't just a crush; hell no. He would do, literally, _everything_ for the purple-haired sorceress. She understood him, she supported him, she helped him. They clicked together perfectly. Even their 'weapons' could be combined. And what a combination that was!

For all these reasons, he had brought her down to his lab. He needed to speak to her as soon as she was done meditating. She was lying on his long chair as he was monitoring all of his systems. He understood what she had done to charge him. It was very creative and she had connected his arms perfectly well. He felt proud for his student.

Raven had dived very deep this time. She needed to settle things from her very core. After calming down all of her powers and placing them under her control, she found her 'colorful' Raven aspects. They all seem to have understood what was happening and why although she was angry her very being stayed in control to save Cyborg. Even her furious self seemed to know that as well. In a way, it helped her act more reasonably than other times. Yes, she was frustrated and yes, she hated when it happened, but this time it was different. She was different, she was feeling differently. And now she knew. Whether she liked it or not –she probably did, she was falling –or had already fallen, to be frank- for Cyborg. End of story.

After several hours of tidying up and introspection, she lazily opened her eyelids and saw Cyborg's lab. She would recognize these walls everywhere.

"Cyborg?" She asked.

His heart skipped a beat or two with the sound of her voice and he turned around from his workbench to see her smiling. 'She is so beautiful' was the only thing he could think of.

He sprang up and ran to her. Raven found herself receiving the firmest, most filled with gratefulness and most affectionate hug ever. She didn't like hugs in general, but she did long this one. She sighed lightly, surrendering herself to his embrace. It felt right. It felt like...home.

***Here it is then! Truth is, I had planned to write a bit more but it was going too long, so their talk will be on Chapter Six, probably up tomorrow. How did you find it? Please let me know! Thanks for reading so far!***


	6. Chapter 6

***A/N: Here come the confessions! Dun dun dun! Haha! Thanks for everyone who has read so far and decided not to close the tab 'cause it sucked XD Please tell me how you found it, I'm crazy to know!***

**CHAPTER SIX**

Raven sighed blissfully. She wanted to tell him many things but... but her body and mind weren't cooperating. She knew why; she was exhausted. Meditating and resting were two completely different things and now her eyelids felt like they were made out of solid lead. She smiled sleepily at Cyborg, who let her go, and she stumbled back, falling on the long chair again, shutting her eyes and telling him that they would talk tomorrow, as she drifted into a perfect, heavy sleep.

Cyborg was confused when she stepped away and fell on his chair again. But he could see why; she was drained. Reasonable, since she did so many things today and meditated for so long. From what she mumbled, he only got the words 'speak' and 'morning', so he thought she wanted to tell him that they would speak tomorrow morning. He sighed. He wanted to talk to her so badly! But he had to wait, of course. Maybe while she was asleep he could practice his speech a bit more.

But what was he doing now? He had to take care of his guest! He tenderly covered her up with her cape and made sure her head was comfortably placed on a cushion. As gently as he could, he drew some hair from her face out of it and stood there for a second, looking at her and smiling goofily to himself before moving to his workbench again.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O

When Raven woke up the next morning, it felt as if she had been sleeping for a century or more. She stretched her back and arms, moving her head and neck around too. So she had indeed fallen asleep in Cyborg's room-lab.

"Perfect." She said to herself.

She soon noticed that he wasn't there. She got up and looked around at his beeping gizmos, finding out that he had left a message for her on his computer. She leaned over the screen and saw that he had written 'I'm up for breakfast. See you there' on a document. She closed it and saw his screensaver; the T-Car.

"So Cyborg." Raven commented and fixed her hair with her hands a bit.

The time had come.

She glided through the walls and emerged behind the kitchen door, right in time for their usual morning appointment. Silently, she entered.

Cyborg felt as if he was about to sit for a very difficult exam. He was anxious, nervous, afraid and felt extremely unprepared. Yet he had to do it. He wanted to 'pass', but it wouldn't matter if he failed; he would have tried, at least. For now, he was cooking his special pancakes, but soon realized that his stomach was tied into a tight knot and his appetite had almost vanished.

"Good morning." She said monotonously, floating to her usual spot.

"Mornin', Sleepin' Beauty." He said, but regretted it immediately.

A faint blush appeared on Raven's cheeks and she felt like giggling. _What the hell are you doing? _She told herself.

"Want, um, some pancakes?" Cyborg asked, like he did every morning.

Raven half-smiled kindly. "You know, I think I'll try your pancakes today."

"Did I hear correctly? You said you'd try my pancakes?!" Cyborg said, playing shocked.

"I might try more than just your pancakes today." She said in a mysterious voice and Cyborg decided not to comment any further.

He served their pancakes and they sat on their usual seats at the table. Cyborg barely touched his, his mind being occupied with all kinds of possible scenarios. Raven was hesitant at first, but after the first bites, she was eating them with pleasure. They were actually very nice. Several minutes passed in an awkward silence when they both simultaneously said

"I have something to tell you."

"What d'you want to tell me?" Cyborg said, startled.

"What do _you _want to tell me?" Raven asked back.

"No, please, _ladies first._"

"You'll go first." Raven said bossily.

"Alright, alright! Don't bite."

Raven nodded and folded her arms. The sooner he told her, the sooner she could get her issue off her chest as well.

Cyborg was started to heat up. This was it, then. This was the moment. He had to tell her. He took a deep breath and spoke. "So...Um...Okay, look, I'm not really good at saying these things so, I-"

"In your own words..."Raven said, arching an eyebrow.

Cyborg sighed. "I tried to conceal it, okay? Because I know that you're probably not interested in these things and how hard it is for you to control your emotions and everythin', but I just couldn't help it. You're very, very pretty, for starters, and very clever and amusin' and dedicated and loyal and powerful and-"

"Enough with my laurels..."

"No, I mean them! I mean every single one of them, Rae. You're so...very beautiful..." He lowered his look.

Raven's eyes widened and she could swear she had turned hot pink.

"You're precious to me, okay? And when they told me that you did all that to save me, I just... I don't know. I felt so small and fragile, like, I could be dead any day now and you would have no idea that...Hm. How to say this now? Well, I go crazy when you smile, even that little tryin' smirk you give us most of the times. When you come down for the lessons, I don't want them to end. When I see you crossed, I feel like I'm the one who was been wronged, you know? I'd give you everythin' I got if you asked. I'd seriously do anythin' for you, 'cause, well, you hold a very special place in here." He put his hand on where his heart would be. "So, yeah, I know that you're probably very embarrassed right now and I made a complete fool of myself, but I just wanted you to know that I'm very much in love with you."

Raven felt as if she had forgotten every single word she ever knew.

"I realize that, um, you don't feel the same so, you don't have to say anythin' and I'd appreciate it if this stayed between us so..."

"Are you an idiot?" Raven said.

Cyborg felt as if his heart had been broken into hundreds of pieces. He knew she didn't feel the same. Maybe deep down he hoped for the opposite, but he was prepared; prepared for her saying kindly 'no', not for something like that. He had to suck it up, now, but, damn, it hurt a lot.

He got up and took a step back. "Sorry, um, yes, I'm going now, okay..."

"No, you don't understand." Raven said and Cyborg stopped backing away. "You're an idiot to say that I don't feel the same."

Cyborg shook his head in disbelief. "W-What?"

"I didn't know what it was." Raven started. "But it grew on me. Maybe it was there from before, maybe it wasn't. Yesterday, when Brother Blood took you, I got so mad. Inconceivably mad, because I felt like he had taken something that belonged to me. Cyborg, you've seen how I become when I get angry. I'm uncontrollable. And yet, yesterday, although I was furious, I pulled my head together as much as I could because it was you we were talking about. I was motivated." She half-smiled a bit at the frozen-in-place Cyborg. "All in all, I have fallen for you and I'm absolutely horrified."

"Raven..."Cyborg whispered.

Could it be real? Could she really be saying that it was mutual? How was this even happening? Cyborg believed he must have had an angel that loved him very much and who pushed things for him. This was all too good to be true.

He took some hesitant steps towards her, still unable to fully grasp it. "Why are you horrified?"

"Because...Because it's all too new and I don't know how not to let it overwhelm me. What if my emotions get out of hand and I end up-"

"I'm here. I won't let anythin' bad happen to you. Anythin'."

"Cyborg, I don't think you understand what you're getting yourself into."

"I think I understand very well." He said, smirking. "I'm gettin' myself into the best thing that has ever happened to me. And that's you. I don't care if you take a hundred hours just to meditate. I don't care if you don't want to be around people very much. I don't care if it takes ten years for you to be ready to do anythin' with me. I don't care about any-damn-thing, as long as I know that you'll be mine. So, will ya?"

Cyborg swore she had never seen Raven's eyes shine like they did. And she was smiling. Widely. That was new.

Raven ran to him and jumped, flinging her hands around his neck. He cradled her close to him, laughing. And then he felt himself levitate.

"Oops." Raven said, giggling a bit.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"So, you're ready." Cyborg said, sitting on the edge of the Titans' Tower, looking at the sunset.

"Yes. I think I'm ready. Let's do this." She had meditated for a full hours for this. They would have no accidental levitating, she was certain.

He snorted. "I always thought it'd be a bit more spontaneous..."

"You'll not get many spontaneous things from me." Raven said, looking at him.

He tilted his body towards her. "And it's fine by me..."

Raven squinted her eyes smiling. "On my count of three."

Cyborg smirked suggestively and nodded.

"One..." Her voice was very stable, despite the fact that she was conquered by two conflicting emotions; enthusiasm and fear. She was excited alright. She would be a liar to say she wasn't dying to kiss him, yet she was afraid she would do something wrong and it would turn out as a total fiasco. Starfire's only advice –although not asked- was to follow her instincts. And so she decided to do. If it did turn out badly, they would solve it. It was 'making out' for crying out loud, not saving the world, even though Raven wasn't sure which of the two seemed easier to do right now.

"Close your eyes." She said and Cyborg playfully obeyed. "Two..."She closed hers and before she could get to three, Cyborg had closed the small distance between them, by grabbing her from her shoulders and pecking her lips strongly.

Raven's eyes shot open when he did, but she closed them instantly, wanting to feel the moment as it was. It was...strange. That lip contact was so very...intense. Trying not to overanalyze everything and 'follow her instincts' indeed, she pecked his full lips back and sensed him grin a bit. Tilting her head to the right slightly, she her tongue slip forward until it touched his and a small shiver went down her spine. She was liking it.

Cyborg didn't know precisely why he had kissed her sooner; maybe he couldn't wait, maybe he wanted to surprise her. He was very content, though, by the way she reacted. She did kiss him back, and she did open up to him very well. What more could he ask for? He let his hands gently slide over her forearms until she removed them from his grip and snaked them around his neck, bringing herself closer to him.

Seizing the opportunity, he embraced her waist underneath her cape, taking in how nicely she felt in his arms. Raven slowly moved her hands from his neck and let them roam around his mechanical shoulders and chest. Cyborg wondered, for a moment, how could she possibly like to touch something so cold and solid as his non-human parts, but cut that thought immediately; self-pity did him nothing but harm. She was there, she was with him, and he deserved to love and be loved.

Raven was very much taken aback to find herself enjoying it far more than she originally thought. Having him touch her like that excited her to no extent. His kiss did many things to her mind, things that felt like an explosion of colors, swallowing her. With a swift movement, she undid her cape, letting it fall down, to move freely and Cyborg stopped kissing her on the mouth, only to start planting small pecks on the sides of her lips and her jaw. He pushed her hair aside to kiss her neck and Raven congratulated herself on the decision not to put on one of her usual turtleneck leotards today. Her naughty self kept reminding her how lucky she was that some parts of his 'lower' human anatomy weren't replaced with machines and circuits. She arched her back a bit, leaning back, to give him more access and just as a small muffled moan escaped her lips, the rooftop's door flung open and an annoyingly blissful Beast Boy entered.

"Hey, guys, are you done-"He began, grinning widely, but froze in place upon seeing them. Raven was practically sitting on Cyborg's lap, giving him a death stare, and Cyborg's head was somewhere by the height of her neck, as he looked at him in shock and embarrassment.

A few seconds of pure awkwardness followed, as Beast Boy exchanged surprised and confused glances with both of them before bursting into a nervous laugh.

"You're making it very hard for me not to have you shoot across the city." Raven said.

"Damn right." Cyborg agreed, helping Raven untangle her legs from his and put her cape back on. Beast Boy continued to laugh.

"Oh,"-another laugh-"I'm sorry, it's just that"-laugh again-"of all the things, I never thought I'd see this one!"

"What's so funny 'bout it?" Cyborg said, getting up.

"Raven almost riding Cyborg? This is a joke on its own!" Beast Boy giggled.

"Continue laughing I'll have you turn into a donkey I can ride as well, for the rest of your life." Raven said, arching an eyebrow.

Knowing that Raven was hardly ever joking, Beast Boy tried to suppress his laughter. "I'll just...leave you"-a muffled snort-"to it, then."

"Now you ruined the moment." Raven said. "What did you want?"

"I thought you were just talking and well-okay, how could I have known this is why you got up here-"

"Oh, shut up already!" Cyborg said.

"-and I thought now that we're all here, we can go grab that pizza at last or something. Mas y Menos are coming too."

"I'm thrilled." Raven said sarcastically.

Cyborg sighed. "Let's go for that damn pizza..."

"But the condition is still on." Raven said. "No jokes."

"I'll try!" Beast Boy said, trying to hold his laughter again.

"Oh," Raven said, making her way to the door, "you're just jealous, aren't you?"

***A/N: Yes, it was a full CyRae chapter this one! (with a small BB intrusion! Hehe!) Although it's not small (2,5k words), it does seem a bit short, doesn't it? Maybe it's 'cause it's only two scenes. Hm...**

**The seventh and final chapter will be the epilogue, with some 'future' scenes. I must warn you, it might be slightly fluffy. Please review with your opinion on the story/chapter! I sincerely hope you liked it! Thanks for reading!***


	7. Chapter 7

***A/N: So, here we go, lovely people! This CyRae journey has come to its end. :') I'm kind of sad it's ending, since I had a great time writing, and I really hope it was worth your time! As warned before, this might be just a little fluffy. Again, review to tell me your opinion! Thanks to all who have read!***

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

"Tell me, Starfire." Raven said, looking at her reflection in the wide mirror. "What have I ever done to deserve something like this?"

Raven couldn't wait to get herself out of that hideous white dress. It was full of tulle and lace and puffs and flowers and things Raven would only be seen wearing dead. It reached to her knee, had a heart-shaped neckline and many, many, many pearl decorations. Why did weddings require such things?

"You look exquisite, dear friend!" Starfire said from her mirror. "White is a really flattering color for you."

"Relax, Rae." Bumblebee said. "It's only for a night."

"A night when I'll be seen by everyone I know in this thing. Perfect."

"Don't sweat it; everyone's gonna be lookin' at the bride, so..."

"Uh, friends!" Starfire exclaimed. "I'm so very happy!" She flew from her spot, inside her enormous wedding dress, and landed next to them. Starfire really didn't know the meaning of the word 'subtle'; if she needed to do anything, so would do it the exuberant way. Raven could swear that Starfire's dress had approximately the same diameter as her already big round bed, since she had been sharing it with Cyborg for the past five years and they had to fit comfortably.

"Of course you should be happy, hun." Bumblebee said. "It's your weddin' day!"

"I will be Mrs Grayson!" Starfire almost cried out and Raven rolled her eyes. "And I am extremely grateful that you will be the maids of my bride!"

"You should be," Raven said, "since you got us wearing _this._"

"I believe it looks cute on you and on Bumblebee, friend Raven. I thought you should match the wedding dress a little."

"We'll match the cupcakes, that's the only thing for sure..."

"So, soon-to-be-Nighty's-wife," Bumblebee said, wiggling her eyebrows, "what have you planned for your weddin' night?"

"I believe the usual arrangements involve intercourse and champagne." Starfire said boldly, making her bridesmaids chuckle. "Am I not correct?"

"Oh, you're _very _correct, girl..."

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"Please tell me this is a nightmare and I'm about to wake up." Raven said, holding on tightly to Cyborg's arm.

"I'm sorry, baby, this is all very true." He replied, fixing his bowtie.

Raven sighed deeply. "I wish I could find a corner and hide... I can't be seen in this!"

"Oh, you look dashin' in anythin', calm down."

"You're not very objective, you know."

"I can't be, not when I know what's underneath all these layers of tulle..."

"You have my full consent to rip them off once we're done with them tying the knot." Raven replied in a suggestive voice.

"I'll be more than glad to do it!"

Raven half-smiled, looking at the room, slowly starting to fill with people. Every titan, honorary or not, was there, along with some of their friends, many people from Starfire's planet and several others from the 'Wayne' enterprises.

"Can I guess that you're also wearin' your usual leotard underneath the dress?" Cyborg said.

Raven nodded. "Who knows? Maybe a psycho villain will attempt to sabotage their union 'before God'... And I couldn't possibly fight in this moving pudding."

"D'you think they'd attempt an attack here? With every titan present?"

Raven shrugged. "The list of psycho villains has seriously expanded, you know, since our little Robin evolved and got into more Bat business..."

"Heeeeeeeeey, my fellow best man!" Beast Boy called from behind them. He was ecstatic to be in a proper tuxedo.

"Hey, B." Cyborg said.

"Raven! You look-"

"Don't. Say. A. Word." Raven said, eyeing him angrily. Beast Boy snorted.

Although Beast Boy had grown significantly taller during the years, he still remained as playful and as immature as his teenage self. He hadn't even changed his superhero name to something a bit more...grown-up.

"I think it's time to go take our positions." He said. "The bride will be coming any minute now!"

"I bet the groom's nervous, eh?" Cyborg asked.

"He can' stay still!" Beast Boy said, giggling. "I bet he'll break into a triple back-flip when his time to say the 'I do' comes!"

With Raven hanging her head down in embarrassment, they went over to Nightwing and the official who was going to marry them. Cyborg and Beast Boy stood by him, while Raven went to join Bumblebee at the other side of the altar.

"Cheer up, girl." Bumblebee said. "It's a weddin', not a funeral."

"It's the funeral of my dignity."

Bumblebee laughed. "I can't wait to see what you'll be doin' in your weddin'..."

"Definitely not make my bridesmaids wear something like this."

"So, is it goin' to be soon?"

"No."

"Oh, okay. I just, y'know, thought you two'd be on your way or somethin'..."

"A wedding is just a funfair for relatives and friends to dress up and pretend to be happy for you, while you dump money into rose bouquets and vanilla-scented candles."

"Now, aren't cha a sunshine..."

Raven shrugged.

"Are you happy with Cy?"

"Yes."

"Then that's all that matters."

The wedding march echoed around, as the doors opened up and Starfire and her 'Gnorfka' entered. If Raven wanted to be honest with herself, she had to admit that Starfire was...radiant. Okay, her dress was a 'little' too much, but she appeared to be so happy. She was very pretty and smiled so very widely. While she tried to make eye contact with her guests, her eyes would always return to the man waiting for her by the end of the red carpet. As for the groom, he was in an intermediate state of awed shock and blissful happiness. If one would also look at the front row of guests, they would also see an austere black-haired muscular man in a very expensive tuxedo looking at the groom and trying to conceal how proud and happy he felt as well.

Cyborg took a look, as he should, at the bride. Starfire was looking very pretty and gleeful and he was very happy for his friends. Not being too interested in the rest of her march, though, he turned his look to the woman of his heart, standing right across the altar. Although he hadn't told her, since she hated it, she looked very nice in the dress. He saw several expressions cross her face as she watched Starfire approach; awe, happiness, understanding and acceptance. She was stunning and he wouldn't change a single thing about her.

Being in such an occasion, Cyborg couldn't help but imagine Raven as the bride and himself as the groom. If they were to get married, they would have their ceremony somewhere else; maybe a dimly lit park with pavilions, or the top of a hill with a splendid view of the sea. Raven would wear a very simple yet elegant dress, faithful to her sense of style and he would wear a nice tuxedo, very much like the one he was wearing right now. Their guests would be very few; the titans, some other friends and maybe a couple of others as well. And that would be it. They would be 'husband and wife'; Victor Stone and Rachel Stone on the papers. Oh, no. Wait. She would never take his surname. She would still be Rachel Roth, wife of Victor Stone. Yes, that looked more like it. Well, they'd still be Raven and Cyborg to the world.

Although he knew she was the one for him, he could never bring himself to propose. Not because he didn't want to; he already felt tied to her emotionally, and that was the biggest part, but because she would hate to have a marriage ceremony. She would say 'yes' of course, because he was the one for her as well, Cyborg was sure of that, but when it would come to it, she would hate to be the center of attention, even of the very few and selected guests and to have to dress up and do all these things. If she ever wanted to do it, she would tell him herself, she had told him so.

When Cyborg's thoughts returned to the present wedding, they had already passed the 'through illness and health' parts and they were just about to say their vows. Nightwing cleared his throat. Predictably enough, he had memorized the few words he wanted to say.

"Starfire, when all those years ago you crashed on our planet and kissed me to learn my language, I could have never thought we would end up getting married, and yet, here we are! Through all this time, you've been a beacon of light for all of us, especially for me, supporting me through every turmoil and problem, and being an amazing girlfriend and I'm sure you'll be a perfect wife, although I still don't know how you decided to accept my proposal! So, I swear to protect you and be there for you no matter what. With all my love, your 'Robin'."

Starfire squealed, wiping some tears of happiness from her face. She turned to Bumblebee, who handed her a piece of paper. She started reading.

"My dear Richard 'Dick' John Grayson, I am thrilled to become your wife. I was very frightened when I first came to this planet, but you and our formidable friends took me in and I became a titan and I got a proper family. My attraction to you was very profound and although you troubled me at first, we were soon a 'couple' and I was very, very happy. Now, like a mother Fretpodrek protects her little fretpodrats, I vow to love and take care of you till you become an old man. I will cook you many hreteers that you like, and celebrate all of Earth's holidays with you while we fight off evil. My love for you knows no limits. I shall be forever yours. With my honest wishes for a long and full of joy life with me, Starfire."

Nightwing nodded at her, trying to suppress his wide grin.

"Richard, do you take this woman as your wife?"

Nightwing swallowed but smiled again. "I do."

"Starfire, do you take this man as your husband?"

"I do!" She almost shouted.

Soon, the ceremony ended, with no one objecting, the exchange of the rings and them being pronounced, henceforth, husband and wife.

As if Starfire was doing it on purpose, she had organized a big feast after the wedding, where Raven had to wear the dress throughout. Luckily, she soon had Cyborg by her side and that made her feel slightly better.

The reception was held in a fancy restaurant with nice gardens and fountains. The tables were covered with soft, white sheets and decorated with big vases of lilies and daisies. They sat at the couple's table and the waiters began bringing their meals.

"I chose some meals from Earth." Starfire told Raven. "I am unaware if all the guests can appreciate my home planet's cuisine."

"No one really can..." Raven mumbled and Starfire giggled.

Many toasts later, it was time for the dancing part, as Starfire was excited to announce. After dancing to a very nice, slow and romantic song with Nightwing, she invited all of them to do so as well. Her planet's folks were very eager to comply to her wish, and before long, almost all of the guests were dancing and drinking wine at the end of every song.

"Someone kill me." Raven said, sipping some of her wine.

"C'mon, Raven. You like this deep down." Cyborg said, sitting by her side.

She turned to him with a frustrated look. "Excuse me, do we know each other?"

"More than well." He replied, half-smiling.

"Put me out of my misery, please." Raven said, sighing. "Let's go for a walk or something."

"Of course, my lady." Cyborg said, getting up and giving her his hand. She took it, getting up as well. Cyborg grabbed a bottle of wine and Raven took their glasses. Unnoticed, they slipped outside and sat by a fountain. Cyborg filled their glasses with the exquisite red wine Nightwing had chosen for tonight.

"Much better." Raven said, relishing the relaxing sound of the water inside the fountain and the nice lighting.

"Rae, I'll tell ya somethin' but don't think it's an innuendo or anythin', okay?"

"Okay..."

"You won't believe how many people asked me when your turn to be the bride'll be."

"Oh, boy..."

"No, no, I think it's funny! Why do they even bother?"

"People like these kinds of things...Don't ask me why."

Cyborg passed his arm over her shoulders. "But we're not 'people', so we'll do it our way, right?"

"Like always."

"You know, it's been almost six years that we've been together, right?"

"Right."

"It's been six perfect years. Thank you for them."

Raven squinted her eyes. "What are you thanking me for?"

"For stayin' with me."

"You're very insecure, you know that? I should be the one thanking you for putting up with all my tantrums."

Cyborg laughed loudly. "You're funny, babe."

"I've been called many things before, but not funny..."

Cyborg took her hand in his after putting his glass down. "Are you content with you life?" He asked.

"Of course, but why are you suddenly asking?"

He shrugged. "I just wanted to know. And if there's anythin' I can do to make you happier, just say so, 'kay?"

"Yes, because if I ever wanted anything, I'd hesitate..."

He half-smiled. "I'm just sayin'."

"Alright."

"And one final thing; I want you to know that no matter what I say or do, you'll always be the reason I wake up and want to live my life to the fullest, just 'cause it's with you."

"This...is probably the nicest thing I've ever heard..."Raven said, looking into his eyes. She was blessed to have him, she knew that, and they had one of the healthiest relationships –if fighting evil and saving the world were aspects of the daily life of an average couple. Cyborg was always sweet with her but tonight it felt...different. He was being a little too sweet. Raven couldn't complain; she loved him too much not to like it. "Is there somewhere you wish to take this little talk?"

"Not somewhere specific, but since you mentioned it..."

Raven arched an eyebrow.

"Look," he withdrew his hand fiddled his fingers nervously, "I...Hm. Do you...Do-"

"You're not proposing, are you?"

"No! I think we were clear on that one."

Raven sighed in relief. "Go on, then. Do I what?"

"Since I'm not proposin', and I'm not intendin' to do so too, I thought maybe we could promise each other somethin'."

"I hear you." Raven said, frowning.

"Promise that you won't leave me, and that you'll stay with me for years to come. Many years."

"I promised you that the first day I ate your pancakes." Raven stated. "I may not have said it out loud, but I never took us lightly. And since you decided to mess with me, you should know that it is for good."

"That's all I wanted to hear." He said and hugged her tightly.

Raven hugged him back. She guessed that he acted like that because of the wedding atmosphere. If two of their closest people are getting bonded forever, maybe he wanted to know that he was tied to her as well. And he was. Although she had never shared these thoughts with him, she had planned her life with Cyborg. The traveling they would do, the house they would have, their daily moments...She never expected herself to be the 'dreamer' type, but he had taught her that it was alright to hope and see life positively. She was progressing on that one.

"So, do you still want to make me happier?" Raven asked, pushing herself a bit upwards.

"Always. What can I do now?"

Raven smirked slightly. "Kiss me."

"Your wish is my command." He answered, pulling her closer until she was sitting on his legs, and kissed her tenderly. He put his hands on the small of her back over the lacey dress and she ran her fingers over his torso.

"Y'know," he said, breaking the kiss and whispering by her ear, "if we keep doin' this, we might need to leave the weddin'..."

"Can we?" Raven said, shooting her eyebrows up.

"Not just yet, baby."

Raven sighed and got up. "Let's go inside, then. The sooner we see the feast fade, the sooner we'll be on our way."

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Raven asked.

"Of course! Are you kiddin'? This is the happiest moment of my life! They need to know!"

"Please allow me to beat Beast Boy with every joke he makes."

"You're allowed to do anythin' for the next ten or so months, baby."

"You'll regret this statement of yours."

"Will not!" He said, marching through the tower's walls proudly, dragging her as well.

Eventually, Raven had a great time shooting objects at Beast Boy after his extremely irritating jokes, like 'Cyborg's stick did the trick', 'You knocked her off her feet by knocking her up' and 'Roses are red, violets are blue. Raven was hard, but so was Cyborg too.'

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"Hey, buddy!" Cyborg said, entering his kitchen.

"Morning." The boy said, biting his waffle.

"Where's your mother?"

"Here." Raven said, gliding inside as well, through a wall. She gave Cyborg a small peck and stood by his side. "Finish your waffle, young man. We've got many things to do today."

"Yes, mom..."He mumbled, munching on.

"What do you have for today?" Cyborg asked her.

"Aeron needs to buy some shoes. In case you haven't noticed, he's grown two sizes bigger since Christmas."

"I'll take him. And then we can go fix the car! What d'ya say, Aeron?"

"He says no." Raven said bossily. "He has to learn to meditate properly."

"Yes, mom..."The boy said again, turning his eyes to them. His skin was a bit lighter than his father's and he seemed to have his build as well. He had short, black and curly hair, and a pair of stunning amethyst eyes. Although he was just a quarter demon, he had inherited all of his mother's magical ability. He didn't seem to have her anger issues, but it was still hard to teach him how to control his emotions and therefore his powers as well. Aeron had also shown a talent in machinery as well, and Cyborg felt extremely proud about it.

"Cut the kid some slack, Rae." Cyborg said, receiving his coffee from her.

"All I can cut him is some cake for now." Raven said, frowning. "He's too skinny."

"I'm not!" Aeron complained loudly.

"Don't raise your voice to me, kiddo."

"Pff..."

"After we're done with your meditating, you may go help your father with the car."

"Yay!" He exclaimed happily. Raven shook her head.

"Now finish that waffle!"

Aeron nodded and bit some more.

"_When is he going to visit his friends Florianne and John?" _Cyborg asked mentally, knowing Raven probably had linked their minds the moment she stepped into the kitchen. After having Aeron, her telepath abilities had escalated and they could now communicate like that, a feature Cyborg found extremely useful.

"_He is invited tonight. Star insisted he went." _Raven replied, brewing some tea for herself.

"_Finally some time to ourselves again..."_

"_Brace yourself, it's going to be a long one, mister."_

"_I'm always braced for you, baby."_

"_And be patient. School starts in just a week."_

"_I know, I know. Raven?"_

"_Yes?"_

"_I love you."_

"_I love you too."_

***So, here it is... I hope you liked it! I wanted to give them a happy ending, like the one they deserve. They never got married since it was unnecessary. They have a perfect family in the face of Aeron Stone. Now, I'd love if any of you wrote a small review for me, to know how you found it! Tell me, was it okay? Was it crap? Should it have ended differently? Thanks to everyone who read so far! Take care!***


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